wfn.org | President Hanson Urges Member Churches Worldwide to Share

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

LWF President Hanson Urges Member Churches Worldwide to Share Resources
Mutually
General Secretary Noko Underlines African Churches' Role in Formation of
Good Citizens

ABUJA, Nigeria/GENEVA, 16 February 2005 (LWI) * The president of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Mark S. Hanson has appealed to LWF
member churches worldwide to mutually share the different resources with
which they are endowed for the continued "growing together" of the
Lutheran communion. Hanson is leading an LWF delegation to West Africa,
February 10-17.

"The maturing of the Lutheran World Federation and its true nature as a
communion in which member churches share their gifts with one another, as
reflected in the rapidly growing Lutheran churches in Africa, Asia,
Central and South America are becoming teachers for the Northern Hemisphere churches," Hanson said February 12, at the end of the delegation's first
stop, Nigeria.

Delivering his address titled "Growing Together, Growing Apart," at a
two-day seminar organized by the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa
(LUCWA), Hanson, also presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America, delved extensively into religious and socio-economic factors
which cause Christians and the world to either grow together or apart.

Growing together, he said, happens when Christians increasingly see each
other as companions, working for the sake of the gospel. Other factors
include the increasing possibilities of global communication, which are
indices of enhanced inter-relatedness.

He cited the impact of economic globalization as one example of growing
apart, saying it had resulted in experiences that could fragment the
entire creation, human family and unity of the LWF.

The LWF President said indicators of whether Christians were growing apart
or together could be seen through the lens of relationships within the
LWF, relationships within the church catholic, interfaith and inter-religious relationships, as well as global relationships.

At its September 2004 meeting, the LWF Council appointed a task force to
guide discussion on family, marriage and sexuality. On the issue of human
sexuality, Hanson urged caution, saying that "we run the risk of making
declarations and decisions without being in conversation with each other."
He pointed out that it would be tragic if human sexuality were to become a
cause for division rather than a source of respectful and admittedly
difficult dialogue.

"Unless we learn the art of moral deliberation in ecumenical, global and
cross-cultural contexts, issues of morality seem to have a greater
potential to divide rather than unite us," Hanson said.

The LWF President expressed concern over the imbalances that continue to
exist between the rich and poor, and weak and strong of the world. The
church, he stressed, cannot afford to be complacent in the face of
injustices but should instead rise to such occasion and give prophetic
judgment.

African Churches Have Come a Long Way

Addressing the seminar, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko
recalled the 1955 All Africa Lutheran Consultation (AALC) in Marangu,
Tanzania, when Lutheran churches in Africa held their first joint
conference. The continent's churches will celebrate the AALC's 50th
anniversary in the latter part of this year.

Noko pointed out the difficulties that had to be overcome before the
African Lutheran churches could come to where they are today. Such
problems included colonialism, poor communication, geographical boundaries, underdevelopment and lack of human resources in the churches.

The LWF General Secretary noted that the formation of the three sub-regional bodies of Lutheran churches in Africa was intended to address the
challenges of growth, expansion, communication and the need for closer
interaction between members of the Lutheran communion in Africa and the
sub-regions which include LUCWA, the Lutheran Communion in Central and
Eastern Africa (LUCCEA), and Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa
(LUCSA).

On Christian-Muslim, and Christian-Jewish relationships, Noko explained
that a lot still needed to be done toward improvement in Africa. He hoped
the new frontiers in missionary work would discover ways of enhancing
understanding among people of other faiths.

For the first time in Africa, Noko said, the LWF had initiated a meeting
with members of  seven leading faith groups in Africa to address the quest
for peace there. The October 2002 first Inter-Faith Peace Summit in Africa
brought together religious representatives from African Traditional
Religion, the Baha'i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and
Judaism. They had agreed that recurring conflict in Africa hinged partly
on the fact that religious leaders there had not lived up to their
responsibilities.

The LWF General Secretary also challenged the African churches to be
actively involved in the formation of good citizens in their countries
through use of educational institutions where moral instructions could be
imparted. They could also adopt ongoing dialogue with the governments and
advance suggestions for the formation of good citizens, he proposed.

The LWF delegation also visited some local congregations of the host
churches, the Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN), and Lutheran Church of
Christ in Nigeria (LCCN).

In the closing eucharistic service, the LWF President reminded Christians
of the need to see themselves in the light of the temptation of Jesus
(Matthew 4:1-11). They should strive to overcome temptations and be ready
to meet one another's material and spiritual needs, he said.

The LUCWA seminar was also attended by LCCN Archbishop Nemuel A. Babba;
LCN Bishop Effiong E. Ekanem; LUCWA President, Rev. Robert Goyek Daga,
also head of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon; and several
other clergy from Nigeria and within the LUCWA sub-region.

During the West African pastoral visit that also covers Liberia and Sierra
Leone, Hanson and Noko are accompanied by the LWF Area Secretary for
Africa, Rev. Dr Musa Filibus, and their spouses, Ione Hanson and Gladys
Noko respectively. (932 words)

(Written for LWI by Abuja (Nigeria)-based journalist Abuo F. Ojie.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 66 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication,
and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an
article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced
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